If you’ve walked along 14th Street in downtown D.C. anytime since 1990, you’ve seen a vacant, historic bank.
The bank building at 14th and G streets now has new life – and it’s delicious.
The new French restaurant La Grande Boucherie opened in the long-vacant bank building. The Scene got a First on 4 grand tour and a history lesson.
“La Grande Boucherie, for us, is a concept that ages well. When we opened our doors, we always feel like we've been around for a while,” Mehdi Limani of La Grande Boucherie said. “If you see any of our locations in New York and Chicago and here, they are all unique and beautiful and gorgeous.”
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The restaurant’s tables are filled with French favorites and steakhouse showstoppers. Limani showed off seared salmon with braised leeks and potatoes, seared scallops, tuna tartare and a niçoise salad.
The building had been vacant for more than 30 years. Built in 1925, it was the home of Federal Bank and several other banks over the decades until, in 1990, National Bank emptied its vault for good.
In the early 2000s, the building was the intended home of an Armenian museum. Then Lincoln Property Company acquired it a few years back.
The millwork, lighting and flooring in the building are all historic, said Brandon Ernst of Lincoln Property Company.
“During the construction of this, we had scaffolding all the way to the ceiling, and we had people laying on their backs, hand-painting the ceiling,” Ernst said. “There were weeks and months that went into this, and this is what it looked like back in the ‘20s and the ‘30s.”
La Grande Boucherie is just the first offering at the building, Limani said. An Italian concept is planned for late spring or early summer, to be joined by a Japanese concept, he said. A speakeasy will open in the bank’s original vault, he said.
La Grande Boucherie seeks to provide something for everybody, Limani said.
“From lunch to late-lunch menu – if you want to leave the office and come here, have a nice glass of wine, dinners, brunches also,” he said. “We will focus on la joie de vivre – the joy of living.”
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